Headwinds and tailwinds: Every dollar is easier than the next

The chart above shows a 30 year period. It shows the trajectory of a diligent young couple contributing $25,000 per year towards building wealth (which includes repaying debt), with a return on investment (and cost of debt) of 10% per year.

They start with debt of $150,000 (student loans the like) and end with close to $1.5 million.

Let me be the first to say that this chart massively oversimplifies how people go through life. Nobody saves a constant amount per year. And a constant, sustained return of 10% is out of the question.

But stay with me. These are lies that tell the truth.

The point of this chart is to illustrate something important that’s easy to overlook.

It takes 10 years for our diligent young couple to finally get to a net worth of more than $0. It’s worth celebrating. Because they’ve achieved this against massive headwinds.

Within 5 years, they’ve built their net worth to $150,000. In other words, it has taken them half the time to accumulate the second $150,000 as it took to accumulate the first.

In another year, their net worth is over $200,000. It took them 16 years to get to that point.

It takes 4 years to get to $400,000 and another 3 years to get to $600,000. In 2 more years, they’re at $800,000.

Are you noticing something?

Instead of facing headwinds, they now have the wind at their back. The speed at which they’re building wealth is accelerating.

It takes 17 years to get to a point where their returns are contributing more to building wealth than their $25,000 contributions. But before you know it, those returns are hitting the stratosphere. In the final few years, they’re still putting $25,000 towards building wealth, but their returns are generating more than $100,000 per year.

If you’re young, you’re facing headwinds

For young people, one of the key things to appreciate is that you’re facing headwinds.

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